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       # 2016-11-14 - The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan
       
 (IMG) Book cover image
       
       Non-fiction book review written on December 30th, 2011.
       
       I read this book for the baloney detection toolkit [1].  The book
       contains many ideas.  Some seem obvious and simple, but they required
       active thought and enthusiasm to formulate.  One of the most
       interesting was the idea that to further science, it is important to
       combine credulity with skepticism.  "The judicious mix of these two
       modes of thought is central to the success of science. ... But
       neither is easy."
       
       By volume, most of the book is spent discussing UFO's and religion.
       Much of this is old hat, but I enjoyed the sections about religious
       doctrines that are falsifiable.  For example, on the efficacy of
       prayer versus the longevity of monarchs.  Despite the heartfelt
       mantra of "God save the Queen" or King, monarchs do not,
       statistically, live longer than others in their social class.  One
       can draw data from millennia of history, all the way back to ancient
       Egyptians, may the gods grant the Pharaoh live forever.
       
       "... but if we must make errors, given the stakes, they should be on
       the side of safety. ... Today our poison arrows can destroy the
       global civilization and just possibly annihilate our species.  The
       price of moral ambiguity is now too high." -- Carl Sagan
       
       "So far from being an isolated phenomenon the late war is only an
       example of the disruptive result that we may constantly expect from
       the progress of science. ... We have improved our armaments, and
       patriotism, which was once a flame upon the altar, has become a
       world-devouring conflagration." -- J.B.S. Haldane [2]
       
       The Demon Haunted World references a couple of relevant public domain
       books:
       
       Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
       by Charles Mackay, 1841 [3]
       
       Mysticism and Logic by Bertrand Russel, 1929 [4]
       
       [1]
 (HTM) Baloney detection toolkit
       
       [2]
 (HTM) Cautionary quote about science and war
       
       [3]
 (DIR) Extraodinary Popular Delusions by Charles, Mackay, 1841
       
       [4]
 (DIR) Mysticism and Logic by Bertrand Russel, 1929
       
       author: Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996
 (TXT) detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/The_Demon-Haunted_World
       LOC:    Q175 .S215
       tags:   book,non-fiction,science
       title:  The Demon Haunted World
       
       # Tags
       
 (DIR) book
 (DIR) non-fiction
 (DIR) science